Our passage today deals with functional faith. Faith has a purpose. The purpose of faith is to deliver us from both the penalty and practice of sin on the one hand and to enable us to serve God. Faith is meant to accomplish these things in our lives. Functional faith is belief in action.

One of the glories of the New Testament church is that we are a family that loves and values all peoples (Col. 3:11). The makeup of the local church should baffle the world. The world should not be able to explain how people of different races, economic and social levels, and age groups can come together in love and harmony. James was very concerned that favoritism not be practiced or tolerated in the churches to which he wrote.

As we read James 1:19-21, picture a group of 20-30 Jewish men and women gathered in a home listening to the reading of Scripture. They have the Hebrew Scriptures and James’ letter. It was very unlikely they had personal copies of the Scriptures. So when these believers met together they would listen to God’s Word as it was read. Knowing his Jewish brothers and sisters and their propensity to argue, James wrote the following instructions beginning in verse 19.

A believer who faithfully endures a trial has, in the eyes of God, accomplished something extremely significant. So much so that He honors His faithful child with the reward reserved for overcomers, for victors who have bested their opponents in the arena or on the battlefield.

Fairly soon after the ascension of our Lord, the murder of Stephan ignited persecution against the newborn Church of Jerusalem (Acts 8). Numerous Jewish believers were driven out of Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch (Acts 11:19). Perhaps as early as 34AD, James, the half-brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem Church, penned this letter to strengthen the faith of his brothers and sisters in the face of persecution. Rather than punishment, James taught trials are an opportunity.

Things happen to Christians that rock our faith in God. Cancer, fires, car accidents, persecution for the faith. Trials can make or break our relationship with God. How are we to respond to our trials? This morning we begin a study of a letter written by a pastor to members of his church who were suffering trials of various kinds.

Special Message: Unwrapping Jesus’ Gift

Yeshua Series Conclusion

On Friday, April 7th, 30 AD, Jesus was arrested, tried, condemned, tortured, crucified and buried. He was buried quickly, between 3PM and dusk before the dawn of the Sabbath at approximately 6PM. His body lay in the tomb the entire Sabbath. In the wee hours of the "first day of the week", Sunday, April 9th, 30 AD, Jesus rose from the dead.

I’ve shared with you my testimony; that I came to a crisis of faith after graduating seminary. I realized Christianity stands or falls on the evidence for the literal, physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I studied the evidence and am convinced it overwhelmingly proves Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead settling for all time and eternity that He is the Messiah King and Savior.